Okay first does "any disk" mean ANY disk, or any disk in the same pack of blanks ? Some cheap media has this problem.

If not, then you probably have a hardware problem.

Try checking Device Manager for flags. Report them here.someone will know more .

If none, your optical drive may be bad.

I'm assuming "delete the drive and reboot" means uninstall the drivers Device Manager. Did they have any flags before ?

Make sure to enable "show hidden devices". You might have a non-plug & play device driver in conflict, and they are hidden.

What software are you using to burn disks ? There may be a problem with
that. If there are no flags in device manager, uninstall the software
(if it's Nero, Roxio or something). You can reinstall the software
later.

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Hello there...
Sony seems a choosy brand so it looks like your disc is not recognized by it. Check also your disc for scratches or you just need to clean your disc first before you can use it. Try it. If this doesn't help, try inserting your disc to other CD-ROM. See if your disc is okay. Hope this helps...
Ai-ai :)

"...manual driver update..." ... from the device's included driver disk? Or from a web-source? If web-source, how long ago and from where?"...it found the hardware but was still unable to load driver software..." ... So Windows does recognize it then? Unable to load what .. the driver(s)?"...Vista just isn't recognizeing my CD-ROM at all" ... ??? If I understand correctly, Windows "device manager" recognizes when its deleted, then refreshed, but Vista doesn't recognize it? By this do you mean it's icon does not show up in "My Computer"?

Lot of questions I know, but it's necessary to define the trouble in order to know which direction to go next.

ASSUMING IT'S RECOGNIZED BY YOUR WINDOWS VISTA OPERATING SYSTEM:

Here are a couple of very helpful and comprehensive software diagnostic tools for you to download at http://www.cdspeed2000.com/download.html. They are both FREEWARE and the same tools licensed to Nero for inclusion in their software products.

Installation: Simply extract/unzip the file to any chosen directory and run the executable (*.EXE).